PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Contractor Perenti’s African surface mining business African Mining Services (AMS) has been awarded a $235-million contract from copper miner Sandfire Resources at the Motheo copper project, in Botswana.
Under the terms of the contract, AMS will deliver all surface mining services associated with the development and production activities at the A4 openpit. The contract will run for a term of 73 months.
Perenti said on Thursday that pre-production and development work at A4 woukd start in September, with pre-strip mining to start in October.
The existing T3 and A4 openpits are expected to be operated as a larger, integrated mining operation.
Sandfire recently officially opened the Motheo copper mine and is working to ramp up its initial throughput rate to 3.2-million tonnes rate, to produce 30 000 t/y of contained copper and 1.2-million ounces of contained silver over an initial mine life of 12.5 years.
Sandfire is working to increase production capacity to 5.2-million tonnes a year, which will increase copper production to 50 000 t/y by 2025.
“We are excited about the opportunity to expand our partnership with Sandfire Resources. Motheo is a long-life asset in the Kalahari copper belt, and the expansion of our role here is in keeping with our strategy of disciplined growth within top-tier mining jurisdictions with high-quality partners,” said Perenti MD and CEO Mark Norwell.
“Sandfire is now one of our largest clients and over the term of the combined contracts, the T3 and A4 openpits are expected to generate total revenue of over A$1.1-billion, delivering strong returns for Perenti and its shareholders.”